Horological instrument and related devices



p 1936- s. w. BOGGS 2,056,089

HOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES Filed Feb. 11, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR.

WW BY A TTORNE Y.

Sept. 29, 1936. 5 BOGGS 2,@5,@8

HOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES Filed Feb. 11, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOROLOGICALINSTRUMENT AND RELATED DEVICES 7 Claims.

The principal object of my invention is to make it feasible toascertain, very easily and quickly and without computation, both thetime of day and the day of the week, at any place whatever on theearth's surface, when it is a given time and day at any particularplace.

An advantage in having a clock which clearly indicates the time of dayand the day of the week in all parts of the world simultaneously is thatsuch a clock may be carried on board ship or on any other movingconveyance, even entirely around the earth, without the necessity ofchanging the time or the day in order to take account of changes inlongitude. By simply moving the stationary hand which is provided forsuch a purpose, or even by pasting on to the face of the clock a papersticker, to indicate the approximate longitude of the place in which theclock is operating at a given time, the local time may be easily readwithout computation, and the time of day and the day of the week ofdistant cities and countries may be simultaneously observed. Such aninstrumentality is of obvious practical value on board ships at sea, inshipping oflices, in telephone, telegraph and cable oflices, to radioenthusiasts, to schools, and in many other ways.

The embodiment which is illustrated in Figs. 1 to inclusive isapplicable to any clock, with the elimination of the ordinary hour handand the addition of the parts illustrated herein. No parts other thanthose of an ordinary clock and those illustrated and described hereinare required.

Some of the novel features and combinations described herein areapplicable alike to clocks and watches, to educational devices intendedto a simulate the essential movements of a clock, and

to geographical globes.

With the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consists inthe parts, elements, features of construction, and combinations hereinset forth and claimed.

At any moment of the day there are twentyfour hours simultaneously inprogress in the twenty-four standard time zones around the earth, andthere are always parts of two days of the week in progress at anymoment. The time of day and the day of the week at any place, inrelation to the time and day at any other place, depend upon therelative location of the two places on the surface of the earth. Theinvention herein described is made to depict, in the simplest possiblemanner, the apparent revolution of the time zones (which follow the sun)around an apparently stationary earth.

The best method of representing the surface of (Cl. 5H3) the earth upona plane surface is by means of a map. properly drawn and oriented. Theusual orientation of a map is to place north at the top, west at theleft, east at the right, etc., and to dispose the lettering on the mapin such manner 5 that it may be read easily when the map is in thatstationary position. It is feasible to represent the rotation of'thetime zones around the earth, however, only when a circular map of theearth is used, with one of the poles of rotation at the center. In sucha map, if the North Pole be at the center the direction north will betoward the center of the map from all parts of the map. North,therefore, can not be at the top. Nevertheless, in order to represent anapparently stationary earth by means of a map, so that type matter maybe easily read at all times, the map should be kept stationary andshould be logically oriented to facilitate the reading thereof. The mostuseful arrangement in a. map with the North Pole at the center is toplace the conventional Western Hemisphere in the left half and theconventional Eastern Hemisphere in the right half. This possesses theobvious advantage of having the west at the left and east" at the right,which is somewhat analogous to the usual map practice, and in additionit has the advantage of placing the internationaldate line (from whicheach new day begins to be reckoned) at the top (where 12 is located onan ordinary clock) from which point people are accustomed to read notonly time on a clock, but the angles on socalled pie-diagrams, etc. Byplacing the North Pole in the center, instead of the South Pole, thereis also the advantage that the rotation of the time zones around thecircular map will be in the familiar clockwise direction instead of thereverse.

The invention herein described possesses unique advantages inrepresenting in the simplest and most practicable manner the fact that agiven day of the week extends from the international date line (at 180longitude measured from Greenwich) westwardly around the earth to thenearer side of the standard time zone in which 45 the hour from 11:00 p.m. to midnight is in progress, and that the preceding day of the weekextends around the rest of the circumference of the earth.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, I haveshown preferred embodiments of my invention for the purpose oi affordingan understanding thereof, but it is to be understood that the same isfor the pin-pose of afiording an understanding only, and not forlimitation of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a face view of the device, which illustrates the stationaryface of the clock and movable parts which may be seen throughtransparent parts of the face.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the mechanism illustratedin Fig. l, which represents all the essential parts of a completeembodiment of the parts herein described, operated either by clock-work,by motor, or by hand.

Fig. 3 illustrates the clock movement which advances the hour disk onceevery hour.

Fig. 4 illustrates the parts which advance the days-of-the-week diskonce every twenty-four hours.

Fig. 5 shows the days-of-the-week disk and the cogwheel which actuatesit.

Fig. 6 is a face view of the device in its simplest form, comprisingonly members la and 2a, with a slight modification of member i, andconstituting an educational and practical instrumentality adapted tomany uses.

Fig. 7 represents a geographical globe with lines and marks adapted tothe use of the dial illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 represents a dial for-use on a geographical globe, to indicateboth the hour and the day of the week in all parts of the earth.

On Fig. 1, member I is a stationary disk which takes the place of theface of a clock, and which comprises the full diameter of theillustration. The central part is opaque and contains a map. Theperimeter of the disk face is transparent except the small portion atthe top comprising the ends of the arrows marked 1, and the numerals andmarks representing the sixty minutes of the hour are shown in theannular band 3, at the outer edge of the disk. Through the transparentportions of the disk face there are visible:--an annular portion 2' ofthe hour disk 2 which revolves once every twenty-four hours and whichbears the circular arrow, 8; member 6, the minute hand which revolvesonce every hour; member 5, the adjustable stationary hand which bears anarrow to indicate more clearly the hour at the longitude in which theclock is operating; and a portion of member 6, the small disk showingthe two days of the week which are simultaneously in progress around theworld.

The map shown on member I is a map of the Northern Hemisphere, and foreconomy of space in the illustration it bears in the margins, at theproper positions, the names of the land bodies in the SouthernHemisphere. It is to be understood that the land areas in the SouthernHemisphere may be shown instead by an extension of the map beyond theequator. It would be feasible, also, to have the map show the SouthernHemisphere instead of the Northern Hemisphere, with the South Pole atthe center, and with an extension to include the Northern Hemisphere,but it would require an inversion of the numbers on the hour disk,member 2, and a reverse normal motion of rotation in that member.

0n the map the boundaries of the twenty-four standard time zones areclearly indicated. This is the most convenient and practical arrange!ment because clocks and watches in most parts of the civilized world areset in accordance with standard time based on Greenwich meridian time,rather than by local sun time. The standard time zones, in each of whichthe time is an exact number of hours diiferent from Greenwich time,

may be alternately colored, for example pink and acsaoso yellow, asrepresented by the cross hatching of land areas in alternate zones inFigure 1. Areas in which the time is based on a local meridian, or whichotherwise differ from the standard time for the zone, may be printed ina distinctive color, for example orange as represented by the doublecross hatching of the India area in Figure 1; in such areas the numberof minutes by which the time differs from the time shown on the hourdisk, member 2, are indicated, with an appropriate plus or minus sign.Areas in which there is no standard time, in which only local sun timemay be said to be observed, may be left uncolored. As on an ordinarymap, the oceans and seas may appropriately be colored blue.

To cooperate with the standard time zones on the map, the lines betweenthe hour zones are clearly marked on the revolving hour disk 2, and therotation of the disk is not continuous in the usual manner of a clockhour-hand, but the disk advances an exact hour once every hour. Thecontinuously moving minute hand tells the number of minutes past thehour in all twentyfour standard time zones. For example, when it is 14minutes past the hour (say 10:14 p. m. in Egypt, as in Fig. 1) it is 14minutes past the hour in all twenty-four standard time zones (forexample, 3:14 p. m. in New York, as in Fig. 1)

The novel feature by means of which the extent of the zones throughoutwhich each of the two days simultaneously in progress may be readilyascertained is best explained with reference to Fig. 1. On the hour disk2 there is a. circular arrow 8, which extends all the way around thedisk, the ends of which meet at midnight-that is, at the end of the 11p. m. zone, because that zone is used for the whole hour from 11:00 p.m. to midnight. The two stationary arrow ends 1, which are printed onthe clock face i, and which meet at the international date line on themap, are immediately in front of, that is superposed upon, the singlecomplete. revolving circular arrow 8, and give the appearance ofconstituting two separate and independent curved arrows. The arrow onthe right, beginning at the top, indicates that it is one day of theweek (Monday, in Fig. 1) from theinternational date line westwardly, (i.e., in a clockwise direction) around through the standard time zonemarked 12 midnight. The arrow on the left, beginning at the top,indicates that it is the preceding day of the week (Sunday, in Fig. 1)from the international date line eastwardly (i. e., in acounter-clockwise direction) around through the standard time zonemarked 11 p. m. Fig. 1 illustrates, for example, that when it is 2:14 p.m. Sunday in Chicago it is 5:14 a. m. Monday in Japan.

The actual operation of the clock may now be explained by reference toFigs. 1 to 5 inclusive, as follows: the shaft of the minute hand, whichmay be actuated by any ordinary clock movement (at 11, Fig. 2) rotatesthe minute hand. once every hour, in the-usual continuous clockwisemotion. The eccentric cam 9 (Figs. 2 and 3) attached to the minute handoperates to release the lever 10 once every hour, when the minute handis in the vertical position, the lever 10 'being pulled by the spring iito rotate the cog- .wheel I 2 in a clockwise direction and thus toadvance the hour disk 2 (Figs. 1 and 2) exactly one hour on the evenhour. The lever 10 extends beyond the periphery of disc 2 and is pivotedat Illa. to a stationary part of the clock frame (see Fig. 3), and thefree end of spring Ii is also anchored to a stationary part 01' theclock irame. On the back oi the hour disk 2 is the eccentric cam II, bymeans of which, when it is exactly midnight on the international dateline, lever M (Fig. 4) is pulled by the spring II to rotate the Wheel IIand thus to advance the days-oi-the-week disk (Figs. 5 and 1) oneposition. These constitute the essential movements of a clock whichindicates the time in the twenty-four standard time zones of the world,and the day or the week, around the entire circumierence oi the earth.The same apparatus may be operated rapidly either by motor or by handinstead 01 by an ordinary clock movement, as an educational device andfor other purposes.

In order to show better how the days-oi-theweek disk 0 operates it willserve to give the following ilustration. when it is 11:59 a. m.Greenwich time it is, of course, 11:59 p. m. on the 180 meridian, at thevertical position on the map disk, member I. At that moment 11 p. m. onthe hour disk 2 is at the vertical position, and the minute hand 4 willpoint to 59 minutes, nearly vertical. It will be seen that it is Sundayin the left or west longitude" half of the 180 time zone, and Monday allof the rest of the way around the world. At exactly one minute later,namely midnight, the minute hand will pass the vertical position, whichwill cause the hour disk 2 to advance one hour, which in turn will causethe days-of-the-week disk 6 to advance from Sun.:Mon." to Mon.:Tues." Itwill be indicated, therefore, in-the "12 midnight" zone, during thewhole hour from midnight to 1:00 a. m., that it is Tuesday in theright-hand half of the 180 zone (constituting 1/48 of the circumferenceof the earth) and Monday around the rest of the earth.

Fig. 6 illustrates a simple embodiment which is to be operated by hand.It consists of only two members, la and 2a. The short stationary ends ofthe arrows to indicate the days of the week, Ia, which remain at the 180meridian, are shown here on an extension of the map disk, In, and a holemay be made in the handle-like extension by which to hang the device andthus keep the map oriented in the desired position in which thelettering on the map will always be most readily legible. Such a devicemay be used to answer any of the questions which may be answered bymeans of the clockwork-driven device previously described, but itrequires, of course, that the hour disk be set at the proper hour for agiven place on the earths surface each time the device is used. On theother hand it is more useful than a clockwork-driven device in answeringquestions relating to past or future time.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate an application to a geographical globe of thefeatures herein set forth and claimed by means of which the days of theweek may be ascertained, as well as the hour of the day, in relation toall parts of the earth. In this embodiment the map becomes a globe, l,(partly illustrated in Fig. 7) on which the limits of the standard timezones are indicated. In this case the stationary arrow lb, the ends ofwhich meet at the international date line, completely encircle the earthinstead of consisting only of two short ends as on the clock embodiment.The standard time zone dial, shown in Fig. 8, may best be concave towardthe globe, and may be manufactured either of transparent or opaquematerial. On this dial the standard time zones 21; are shown, and on anextension or projection the ends of two arrows 8b are shown, meeting atthe line which separates the 11 p. m." and the 12 midnight zones. Thesearrow ends are made on the same radius, measured from the North Pole, asthe continuous circular arrow lb which is imprinted on the globe, sothat it always gives the appearance of two separate and distinct arrowsin the manner described above in relation to Figs. 1 and 6. Thisapparent pair of arrows, in association with the names of the two daysof the week imprinted on the globe at 8b, makes it feasible to ascertainthe day of the week as well as the hour of the day in any part of theworld when it is a given day and hour in any other part.

I claim:

1. A device for indicating the standard time in all parts of the worldcomprising in combination a disk bearing a map of the world showingstandard time zones, stationary arrow ends thereon meeting on the 180thmeridian, the names of two successive days of the week shown inassociation with the stationary arrow ends in proper relation to the twodays of the week prevailing on opposite sides of the international dateline, and a second disk rotatable concentrically in relation to thefirst disk bearing the numbers of the twenty-four hours of the day andbearing a circular arrow the ends of which meet at the point whichrepresents midnight.

2. In a horological device a circular member which bears the numbers ofthe twenty-four hours of the day and having formed thereon a continuousarrow with ends meeting at the point indicating midnight, and a separatemember bearing portions of two circular arrows of the same radius andoperating concentrically with said continuous arrow and being so placedthat the ends of the portions of the two arrows meet at the 180thmeridian, so as to give the appearance of two separate arrows, one fromthe 180th meridian measured clockwise around to the midnight point, andthe other from the midnight point measured clockwise around to the 180thmeridian.

3. In a geographical device, a globe bearing a series of lines thereonindicating the limits of the twenty-four standard time zones and acircular arrow encircling the earth at a convenient parallel of latitudewith the two ends thereof meeting at the international date line, thenames of two days simultaneously in progress on opposite sides of theinternational date line shown in close relation to the two aforesaidarrow ends, and in association therewith a dial member bearing thenumbers of the twenty-four hours of the day, limits of the zonesthereof, and the ends of circular arrows meeting at the midnight pointin registry with the circular arrow on said globe.

4. A device for indicating the days in progress around the worldcomprising in combination, a disk bearing a map of one hemisphere of theworld having the pole at the center of the disk, said map having thestandard time zones indicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, and asecond disk rotatably associated with said first disk and having indiciathereon for indicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to thehour in any particular time zone, said second disk having formed thereona double-ended circular arrow with opposing heads located at themidnight line, said first disk having an opaque extension along theinternational date line and extending over said circular arrow on saidsec-'- ond disk, said extension having formed thereon opposing arrowheads on said date line in registry with said circular arrow on saidsecond disk, whereby said circular arrow appears to be divided into twoarcuate arrows for indicating the different portions of the world inwhich two different days are in progress.

5. A clock comprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map ofthe world with one pole at the center of the disk, said map having thestandard time zones indicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, asecond disk relativeiy rotatable with respect to said first disk bearingindicia for indicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to thehour in any particular time zone, a third disk associated with saidfirst diskfor'indicating the two days or the week which aresimultaneously in progress at any time, a stationary dial bearing minutedivisions'corresponding to one hour, a clock driving mechanism, a minutehand driven by said mechanism and associated with said stationary dial,and means for rotating said second disk by said clock driving mechanismin step-by-step movement, said means being operable to advance saidsecond disk one time zone for each revolution of said minute hand, andmeans for driving said third disk in step-by-step movement from saidsecond disk, said means being operable to advance said third disk onestep for each revolution of said second disk.

6. A device for indicating standard time in all parts of the worldcomprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map of the worldwith one pole at the center of the disk and the international date linearranged in a vertical position, said map having the standard time zonesindicated thereon as distinctive sector areas, a second disk rotatablewith respect to said first disk bearing indicia for indicating the houraosaosa in each time zone corresponding tothe hour in any particulartime zone, indicia arranged on said rotatable disk and cooperating withsaid date line for indicating the standard time zones in which differentdays are in progress at any given time, and a clock mechanismfor-shifting the second disk in step-by-step relation with respect tothe stationary disk one complete time zone for each hour and for eachstep.

7. A clock-comprising in combination, a stationary disk bearing a map ofthe world with one pole at the center of the disk and the internationaldate line arranged in a vertical position, said map having the standardtime zones indi cated thereon as distinctive sector areas, a sec-- onddisk rotatable with respect to said first disk bearing indicia forindicating the hour in each time zone corresponding to the hour in anyparticular time zone, means on said second disk and cooperating withsaid international date line for indicating time zones in whichdifferent days are in progress at any given time, an adjustable indicator arranged adjacent the periphery of the stationary disk forindicating the time zone corresponding to any particular locality, athird disk associated with said first disk for indicating the two daysof the week which are simultaneously in progress at any time, astationary dial bearing minute divisions corresponding to one hour, aclock driving mechanism, a minute hand driven by said mechanism andassociated with said stationary dial, and means for rotating said seconddisk by said lock driving mechanism in step-bystep movement, said meansbeing operable to advance said second disk one time zone for eachrevolution of said minute hand, and means for driving said third disk instep-by-step movement from said second disk, said means being operableto advance said third disk one step for each revolution of said seconddisk.

SAMUEL WHITTEMORE BOGGS.

